Healthy Living Blog

Healthy Weight Week

Healthy Weight week is a time to focus on adopting healthy lifestyle habits and stop focusing diets and and the numbers on your bathroom scale. “Diet” implies a temporary change that lasts only until you lose those unwanted extra pounds. Sadly, 95% of those who diet regain their weight within three years. During healthy weight week, the goal is to identify habits that you can change or add to permanently impact your health, and body weight. Start with three key factors:

Identify your healthy body weight. What was the body weight at which you felt most energetic and healthy in you ADULT years (your high school or college weight is usually unrealistic).

Be active – get out and move. If you hate exercise, then don’t do it! Instead, find activities that you can enjoy such as walking with friends, sledding with the kids, or ballroom dancing with your sweetheart. The important thing is to get off your seat, away from the screens and get moving!

One healthy habit that leaner people enjoy is eating breakfast each morning. If you’re bored with breakfast, join us this Saturday January 18, for our “Healthy New You!” Health & Wellness Event at all Meijer stores from 11am-2pm. You’ll find realistic tips and ideas to help you achieve your health goals:

Marsha Hundall, MS, RDN president of Green Mountain—a resort retreat that emphasizes healthy habits for healthy weight—is a leader in the promotion of healthy weight week. According to Marsha, “the pursuit of weight loss has become an obsession in this country and that’s independent of whether a person could be considered fat.

For example, studies repeatedly show young children and teens are afraid of becoming fat, and engage in restricted eating and other practices to prevent it. Unfortunately, these practices end up causing weight gain, eating disorders, and poor health.

The solution is to change the focus from weight to health, and support people in living healthy, happy and fulfilled lives.”

Tips to Find Your Healthy Weight

1. Focus on feeling good, not how much you weigh.

2. Choose foods that make you feel well, and eat them in a way that makes you feel well.

3. Listen to and trust your body’s cues – it can tell you when you are hungry and when you’ve had enough to eat.

4. Find movement that is pleasurable to you.

5. Forget about burning calories – that focus makes exercise a punishment, not a pleasure.

6. Find ways to fulfill your social, emotional and spiritual needs.

Creative Breakfast Ideas:

Fiber Up! One of the most effective ways to lose extra pounds is to control hunger. Eating foods with fiber makes you feel full. Fibrous foods also can take longer to chew, giving your brain time to get the signal that you have had enough to eat. Boost your fiber and keep your calories in check by including more whole grains, fruits and vegetables.

Get more protein. Studies show that including protein at each meal can help you maintain a healthy weight, reduce feelings of hunger, build and maintain lean muscle mass, and help keep you satisfied. Good protein sources include low-fat dairy, eggs, lean meats, hummus, and peanut butter, beans, nuts, grains, vegetables and soy-based products.

The Skinny Blast – Breakfast on the Go

Makes 2 servings

2 cups Earthbound Farms kale

1 banana

2 tbsp. Meijer raw pumpkin seeds

1 orange (peeled)

1 carrot

1-2 tbsp. chia seeds

Water or Almond milk

Fill the Nutribullet tall cup with kale, banana, pumpkin seeds, orange, carrot, and chia seeds. Fill to the max line with water or almond milk. Twist on the extractor blade. Place the cup onto the power base. Press down and twist to lock the motor on. It’s ready when it looks smooth and creamy.

Mix the Greek yogurt and honey together in a small bowl. Spoon the yogurt mixture into a glass or parfait bowl. Top with strawberries and cooked quinoa. Sprinkle with a few almonds slices. Repeat with the remaining yogurt, strawberries, quinoa and almonds so there are three layers total. Garnish with fresh mint leaves and drizzle with additional honey if desired.